There are less than two weeks left before the end of the transfer window and so far West Ham have only added one senior player to their squad from last season.
Alphonse Areola is the only new face in the first-team squad this season with Craig Dawson also joining permanently after his successful loan spell last season.
A number of promising young players have joined the club this transfer window with Armstrong Okoflex in particular one to look out for in the future.
The 19-year-old has senior experience under his belt with Celtic and could feature for the first-team this season but when announcing his signing Okoflex was introduced at the West Ham Academy and as a player who would ‘initially link up with the U23 team’.
Okoflex did his first-team chances no harm on Monday night in front of the watching David Moyes helping himself to a hat-trick at the London Stadium against Arsenal in a Premier League 2 clash.
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Here football.london take a look at what West Ham need to to before the end of the transfer window and where their priorities lie.
Striker
Despite the youngster’s fine form, the Hammers are in desperate need of adding a striker to their ranks to provide competition and support to Michail Antonio.
Currently, Antonio is the only recognised striker with Premier League experience in Moyes’ squad. Jarrod Bowen can play there if required but is more comfortable on the right and Mipo Odubeko, whilst a fine prospect is an as-yet untested entity.
football.london understands that a striker remains the priority for Moyes with West ham considering a number of options.
The pressure to bring in reinforcements upfront is only exacerbated by the news that Antonio is set to receive his first international call-up by Jamaica. This could lead to the striker playing an extra 14 matches between September and March 2022 in what is an already congested calendar.
Midfield
Behind Antonio, Said Benrahma shone in the number ten role against Newcastle but there is still a desire at West Ham that Jesse Lingard will return to the London Stadium.
Lingard is currently fighting for a place in the Manchester United team but the hope is the lure of regular first-team football will persuade the England international to head back to east London.
Central midfield is not a priority position for Moyes with the manager able to call upon Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice, Mark Noble, and Manuel Lanzini.
Conor Coventry is another option for Moyes but the midfielder could be sent out on loan if Moyes brings in another midfielder.
“Conor could do with maybe a loan period but until I have got enough people in there I can’t release Conor at the moment,” Moyes said. “He has started quite well Conor and I have enjoyed having him but I am certainly confident with the players I have got and I do hope that we can add to the squad and get ourselves more competition.
The manager added: “At the moment we have got a couple of very good midfield players in Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek. I have Mark Noble and Manuel Lanzini who can play in those roles as well so I do have players who could play in those roles as well but if we added to it it might give Conor a chance to get some more games.”
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Defence
Moyes is keen to add to his defence and a centre-back is likely to arrive before the end of the month.
Fabian Balbuena has left the club permanently and Frederik Alves will spend the season on loan at Sunderland leaving Moyes with just Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop to choose between.
Moyes has name-checked 17-year-old Jamal Baptiste as someone he wants around the first-team squad this season but added he will be adding a defender before the end of the transfer window.
“I have 17-year-old centre-half Jamal [Baptiste] who I want involved in the first-team training but undoubtedly I am going to try and add to the squad,” Moyes said.
“I will be adding a defender and maybe other players as well but then if I don’t then I will be happy if the players perform as well as they did today.”